Three Islanders Active at the World Juniors

December 26th, 20122:06 pm

Kevin Schultz

Early this morning the World Junior Championships kicked off in Ufa, Russia. Yes, actual hockey was played with actual current and future NHLers participating. The Islanders have three representatives in the WJCs; top draft picks Ryan Strome and Griffin Reinhart are skating for team Canada — apparently doing their best impressions of the bad guys from Mighty Ducks — while 2012 second round pick Ville Pokka is on the Finnish team.

All three players participated in the opening games today and racked up some points. Ryan Strome had a goal and two helpers and was +3 in Team Canada’s 9-3 rout of Germany. Strome was centering a line with Jonathan Drouin (draft eligible in ’13) and Brett Ritchie (2nd round to Dallas in 2011). Griffin Reinhart didn’t get on the score sheet. As for Pokka, he had an assist and was +1 in Finland’s 5-1 win over Latvia.

If you’re looking to actually watch some hockey on your TV, the NHL Network in the US is airing 15 games plus highlights of the tournament. Your next chance to see the Isles’ two Canadians are Friday at 4:30am, or 5:30pm on the replay, while Pokka and the Fins are not scheduled to appear. Steve Mears, former Isles play-by-play man, will be calling these games with ESPN’s EJ Hradek. For a complete schedule, check out this post from Lighthouse.